Scorch
by SoulSoother59
Summary: Stu has saved Evie from near-death, hauling her from the frozen lake. But now she's bed-ridden, fighting off a bout of pneumonia. Will these events change his mind about forcing Evie to move halfway across the world to be with him? Can they sort out their differences and make peace with each other and their families? Final Part of the 'Heat' Series.


_**A/N:**_ This is the last part of the 'Heat' Series. I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it. I suppose that this can be read alone but I do suggest reading the other 3 parts. Enjoy XxX

_**ONE-SHOT**_

"How is she?" I could hear Stu's voice but it sounded soft around the edges and distant - as if he were standing in another room. My eyes, which were closed, slid open ever so slightly in order to see him. He stood, his shoulder pressed to door frame, his once facial hair-free face now sporting a neatly trimmed beard and moustache. My head throbbed and my lungs ached - a painful reminder of why I was currently bed-ridden.

"She's on the mend, sweetheart," the reply came from my own mother. "Hopefully, she'll be up and about shortly, my daughter has always had a strong will."

"Yes, she has," Stu replied, nodding slowly. An almost pitiful groan left my lips and I saw panic well up in Stu's face instantly. "She's in pain," he added, more a statement than a question.

"Not much," my mother told him. "She's through the worst now, darling. Pneumonia is not an easy thing to handle but she's doing well. Her fever broke a few days ago but the doctor still warned me to keep an eye on her breathing," I felt her fingers curl loosely around mine.

"You're tired. Why don't you get some sleep? She'll be alright."

"I'm okay, Stu. I'd rather just stay with my daughter. I want to be here when she wakes up."

"I'll stay with her," Stu suggested and I felt my mum squeeze my fingers again, her thumb rubbing soothingly back and forth over the back of my hand. My lungs burned with every intake of breath and another small groan left my lips. I heard a dry sob and I knew almost instantly that my mum was crying. With my eyes closed once more, I heard Stu's thick footsteps as he crossed to my mum's side. "She's going to be okay. I promise I will come and get you if she wakes up. You need to get some sleep. She'll need you to have a clear head when she's awake."

"I know," my mum placed her hand on top of Stu's. "We're all just so lucky that you were there to pull her out of the lake. I doubt she'd be here if it wasn't for you, Stu."

The sound of the chair scraping as my mother stood up, had my breath hitching in my throat. A small mumble came from her lips and then her soft shuffling footsteps sounded through the room followed by the door clicking shut. Both my own and Stu's heavy breaths were the only sounds within the room as Stu pulled the chair out and took a seat on it. A deathly silence formed as he sat beside my bed, his elbows resting against the bed as he pressed his forehead against his arms, eyes closed. I watched him through my half-closed lids, itching to reach out and touch the top of his head, to caress the gelled back locks of hair.

I was just about to clear my throat to speak to him when he beat me to the punch.

"I reckon your mum's right, Evie," I heard him sigh. "You wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me, sweetheart. If I hadn't have made that stupid suggestion that you uproot your whole life and flit half way across the world. If I'd just put my own pride aside and we'd told them the truth, told them about us, we'd have been coming home for Christmas together. We'd still be together and you wouldn't be lying in bed fighting off pneumonia."

My stomach gave a violent lurch as I listened to him speak, heard him telling me how sorry he was. A sob stuck in the back of my throat and I inhaled deeply, feeling it catch and my body was racked with a series of angry, hacking coughs. Stu's head shot up as I rolled up into a sitting position, the painful coughs erupting from the back of my throat. Beads of sweat dripped from my forehead, running down my cheeks as tears joined them, leaking from my eyes as I struggled to breathe.

"Evie?" his voice was laced with panic, his big hand coming to rest on my back. He patted my back, rubbing back and forth as I doubled over on the bed, inhaling deeply in through my nose and out through my mouth. "I'll get your mum," he pushed himself up but I grabbed his hand, lacing my fingers with his.

"Stay with me," I managed to wheeze out between the last few hacking coughs as the catch in my throat finally eased. I flopped back against the bed, my pillows damp with perspiration. Stu was perched halfway between standing and sitting on the chair, his face marred with worry. A few errant tears leaked from my eyes as I turned my head towards him, still gripping his hand. "Don't leave me," I added, weakly.

He dropped back into the chair at once, his fingers gripping tightly to mine. "I'll never leave you," he breathed a sigh of relief as a smile formed on my lips. "I was so worried about you. When I heard that scream tearing from your throat," he bowed his head towards the floor, referring to my falling in the lake. "I thought I'd lost you, Evie."

I shook my head at him. "It doesn't matter now. I'm okay."

"But what if-"

"No buts, Stu. I'm not going to waste my time thinking about what might have happened," he licked his lips softly, his green eyes meeting mine. "Lie with me," I patted the bed with my other hand. "I want you to hold me."

"I should get your mum," he replied hesitantly. "She wanted to be here when you woke up."

"I know. But she's exhausted. She needs to rest. And I just want to feel your arms around me again."

With a slow nod, Stu pushed himself up, crossing around to the other side of the bed. He crawled on top of the quilts with a finesse that a man that large shouldn't possess and dropped down next to me, lifting my head gently to tuck his large arm beneath my neck. His skin was cool against my heated flesh and I reveled in the feel of him tugging me into his embrace, my cheek pressing against his chest. My breaths were still thick and heavy, filled with a bone-rattling wheezing as my body fought off the bacterial infection raging within it. Stu's free hand came up to caress the skin around my hairline, his fingers dragging through my hair - unwashed and unkempt from lying in bed for almost two weeks.

* * *

_**4 DAYS LATER**_

The smell of fresh Turkey roasting in the oven wafted through the house and I could feel my mouth watering from the upstairs bedroom. Doubled over as I sat on the bed, my fingers fiddled the ankle strap on the caged-front black 4 inch heels I wore. Standing up, I teetered ever so slightly before regaining my balance, still weak from fighting off the bout of pneumonia. I had insisted that we go ahead with Christmas dinner - despite it being almost 3 weeks after the traditional holiday. My slipping through the ice had practically ruined everyone's festive season and so it was only fair that we still celebrated the holiday now that I was feeling better.

Making my way to the stairs, I took them one-at-a-time, slowly stepping down each one as I headed for the dining room, knowing everybody was waiting downstairs. The black stretch-velvet jeggings that I wore hugged my thighs nicely and paired with the precious sapphire silk blouse, I ensured that I was keeping myself warm. Preston was still covered with a layer of snow - although it was no long as thick as it had been - I would do anything to prevent myself from becoming sick again.

I could hear the merriment coming from the dining room, the clinking of wine and/or water glasses meeting each other as the two families toasted the festive period, however late it was. Tasha's voice rang out, inquiring as to my whereabouts just as I stepped into the room. Her head whipped towards me, tears brimming at the corners of her eyes as she set her gaze upon me. I smiled weakly at her and within a mere few seconds she was hugging me for dear life. I wrapped my arms around her, holding my best friend tightly as she cried upon my shoulder. It wasn't the first time she had seen me after I had woken up but clearly seeing me back on my feet and watching me walking about had really hit home with her.

"I'm okay," I told her. She squeezed her arms around me once more before pulling back to stare at me, tear tracks marring her perfectly made-up face. Wiping her fingers under her eyes, she laughed and stepped back into Ethan's awaiting arms. He passed her glass of wine back to her, which she took a rather large glug out of. Next to embrace me were both my mum and dad, neither able to contain their joy at seeing me back on my feet either. A small glass of wine was thrust into my hand and I took a sip, enjoying the fruity flavours flowing across my tongue.

My eyes fell to Stu who was huddled towards the back of everybody, a beer in his hand. He looked to me, our eyes meeting each other's and an imperceptible nod passed between us. After he'd crawled into bed with me and held me for 20 minutes; just the two of us lying in silence, he'd went and got my mum and dad. Since that moment, we hadn't been alone together and quite frankly it was hardly likely we would get another chance now that I was surrounded by our families.

* * *

Dinner was served and the large group of us; myself, my mother and father, Stu, Tasha and their parents and Tasha's boyfriend Ethan, gathered around the table. I was seated directly across from Stu and next to my dad. In an ideal world, I'd have been next to Stu, my hand pressed into his as we celebrated Christmas with our families but that was nigh on impossible at the moment. I desperately wanted to stretch my foot across the floor under the table and press my toes against his leg, sliding them up and down the rough material of his jeans. But I couldn't.

The table was filled with merriment and Christmas cheer, everybody in high spirits now that I was through the worst of my illness. The wine flowed and there was plenty of food to go around the table, everybody chattering to each other and telling tales and bringing up memories of previous Christmas dinners.

"Stuart!" Alexander's voice rang out across the table. "You've been awful quiet, son. Are you alright?"

Stu nodded. "I'm just thinking, Dad," he managed to turn his lips up into a smile before knocking back a mouthful of beer. He dropped his gaze back to the table, his vibrant eyes finding something interesting about the pattern on the table cloth. I chewed on my lower lip, worrying the flesh as I tried and failed to catch his gaze. "Actually," he continued, drawing everybody's attention to himself as he stood up. "I've got something to say."

I sat back in my seat, my hand gripping my wine glass firmly as Stu stared at the table cloth once more, his fingers fiddling with the label of his beer bottle.

"You know that wrestling has always been my dream right?" he looked to everybody sitting around the table. There were various mumbles of 'yes' and 'of course' and a succession of nods around the table. "It's the only thing that I ever wanted to do. I still want to do it, it's my passion. But," he hesitated slightly, his mouth open and closing as he thought about what he was going to say. "The truth is that I've met someone. And she's the best thing that's ever happened to me," he knocked back another mouthful of beer, giving himself a little liquid courage as he drew his green eyes to the various faces around the table, missing out looking directly at me. It hurt that he wouldn't look at me but in all honesty, I think he would have lost his nerve had he met my eyes at that moment. Dragging his fingers through his hair, he continued to speak. "I never used to understand when the guys around me would say shit like that," I heard Angela tut at his use of language and I smiled. "They would go on and on about how their girl had changed their lives and that they couldn't see themselves living without her. And I rubbished their claims, spitting out about how putting everything on the line for love with pathetic. But it's only now that I can truly understand exactly what they meant," his green eyes fell to me, connecting with mine and my breath caught in my throat at the intensity of his gaze.

There was nothing but silence around the room after Stu had spoken. Tasha was the first one to open her mouth and in typical Tasha fashion, demanding she get to meet the girl who had stolen her brother's heart.

"I want to meet her!" she told him. "I want to know if I approve of her. She must be pretty special if she made you crack anyway," she chuckled, taking a sip of her wine.

"Do we get to meet her anytime soon, son?" Alexander asked.

"You've already met her," Stu smiled. Noises of sheer bewilderment sounded from around the table, as everyone tried to determine who the mystery girl that Stu spoke about was. The Preston native placed his beer down as he started to walk around the table towards me.

"What?" Tasha asked, confusion in her voice.

"Evie, I am sorry that I tried to force you to choose between me and your job, your friends and your life here. Choosing should never have been an option for you. I put you under so much pressure and that was terrible of me," he stopped in front of me, bending his knees as he crouched down to my level, his big hands landing on my velvet covered thighs to help keep his balance. I wanted so badly to reach out and touch him, to feel his skin on mine but I wanted him to keep talking, to tell me what he had to say. "I'm sorry, sweetheart," he squeezed my knee with his hand. "I don't know if you remember this but I once told you that I loved you," he smiled. "And that I would do anything to keep you."

"I remember," I told him, nodding.

"Well, I don't want to lose you. When I saw you in that lake and you were scrabbling to hold onto the ice. Fuck, I felt like I had been punched in the gut. I couldn't catch my breath. And then I had to sit back and watch you fight off pneumonia - you've got no idea what was going through my head," he lowered his head, shaking it slightly. "It just made me rethink about everything we'd spoken about and argued about," he chuckled. "I meant what I said when I told you that I would do anything to keep you. Which is why, I've arranged to take a career break. Two years and you and I can work on us without my job being a hindrance. I've already arranged to get a place in London and I would really like it if you stayed with me there. What do you think?"

I stared at him, open mouthed in awe at the lengths he would go to to be with me. Giving up his dream of being a professional wrestler even if only temporarily was a big sacrifice for him. Two years would put him off the map and he'd have to work so hard to get back to the level he was at currently. I couldn't do that to him. I couldn't let him destroy his life for me.

"I think that you're crazy, Stu. No way! There's no way that I am going to let you give up wrestling for me. No!"

"But-" he stared at me, hurt shining in his eyes as he tried to speak.

"No buts. It's not happening. I love you, Stu. I love you far too much to let you sacrifice all of your hard work to spend two years in London with me. So if the option to live with you in Florida is still open, I'd like that very much."

"Evie, what are you saying?"

"Have you ever heard of Random House?" he shook his head. "It's a _very_ large book publishers. They have a headquarters in New York," he nodded, a look of such confusion on his face that I smiled. "I've been headhunted by the firm and I sign my contract next week. They've agreed that I can edit from where ever we are as long as I can be contacted by phone or email and post everything back to them. And that I drop into the headquarters at least once per month. Does that sound like something that would appeal to you?"

"It sounds like something that would really appeal to me," Stu said, wrapping both of his hands around my thighs to pull me closer. I lifted my arms to encircle his neck, sighing blissfully when he pressed his lips to mine firmly, both of us instantly parting our lips for each other.

"Just. Wait. One. Minute!" we both broke apart, Stu looking over his shoulder as Tasha stood up at the table, leaning forward with her hands pressed against the table. "This is what has had you so sullen since you returned from Florida? Stu is the reason you went back to Florida? My best friend and my brother are in love with each other and none of you told me?!" her voice rose consecutively with each sentence.

I opened my mouth to speak but Stu glared at his sister, speaking to her before I got the chance.

"Oh pipe down, Tash. This isn't your moment," he turned his head back to me, curling one large hand around my neck to pull me closer again, his lips silencing any further protests which were on the tip of my tongue.

**THE END**


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